Ghostrick Jackfrost, Enemy of the Universe

February 6th, 2014

By now, you should be very familiar with the Ghostrick monsters from Shadow Specters. That wasn’t the end of the monster mayhem, though, because Legacy of the Valiant has some awesome (and goofy!) new Ghostricks. Today, we’re going to talk about one that helps dedicated Ghostrick Decks, as well as working wonders in a wide range of strategies: Ghostrick Jackfrost!

Cannot be Normal Summoned, unless you control a “Ghostrick” monster. Once per turn: You can change this card to face-down Defense Position. When an opponent’s monster declares a direct attack: You can change that opponent’s monster to face-down Defense Position, and if you do, Special Summon this card from your hand in face-down Defense Position.

Ghostrick Jackfrost works like a combination of Ghostrick Witch and Ghostrick Lantern. Jackfrost trades in Lantern’s ability to also negate attacks against Ghostricks, but gains Witch’s ability to turn something face-down. Except, it’s on your opponent’s turn, so it’s also a bit like a Book of Moon from your hand. Mull that over a bit.

In Ghostrick Decks, you’ll frequently be staring down direct attacks due to Ghostrick Mansion. Jackfrost lets you pick and choose exactly what will be dealing damage to you, opening up opportunities to trigger Ghostrick Mary, while also helping to enable your own direct attacks! The Mansion will protect Jackfrost as soon as it’s Special Summoned, so they play perfectly together.

As cool as Ghostrick Jackfrost might be in Ghostrick Decks, you’ll want to consider what it can do for every other Deck out there. To put it another way, consider what it can do against other Decks. Against any strategy that focuses on keeping one specific monster on the field, Jackfrost will protect your Life Points and ruin your opponent’s gameplan.

When facing off against Bujin, your opponent is hoping to keep Bujin Yamato on the field and trigger its effect. When Yamato attacks, you just need to block with Jackfrost and turn it face-down. Next turn, send Jackfrost in to pummel Yamato’s paltry 200 DEF. You’ll have prevented the activation of Yamato’s effect, as well as the Bujingi that require a Beast-Warrior. Yamato is in Defense Position, so whatever monster you follow up with is safe from retaliation in the form of Bujingi Crane or Honest. The best part of all of this is that Ghostrick Jackfrost’s effect doesn’t target, so you can’t even be stopped by Bujingi Turtle!

Against Prophecy, Ghostrick Jackfrost serves a simple purpose: Keep the Spellcaster off the field. Primarily, this is to prevent the activation of Spellbook of Fate on your own turn. Early in the Duel, it could also mean the difference between your opponent activating The Grand Spellbook Tower’s effect, or having a useless Field Spell. Careful though, you don’t want to flip Spellbook Magician of Prophecy face-down!

Fire Fists are known for blowing up your monsters with Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Bear, then following up with a direct attack for a free Fire Formation. Let Ghostrick Jackfrost laugh at Bear, and you can attack with another monster without worrying about any Fire Formations altering the battle outcome.

Besides its uses in specific matchups, you’ll find that Ghostrick Jackfrost is just a generally useful card to have around for any opponent who intends to attack directly. While Swift Scarecrow might be better at ending the Battle Phase, it doesn’t accomplish anything else. Jackfrost’s effect still lets him block a total of two attacks, but also helps you to disrupt your opponent in the process. You can use Jackfrost in the Main Deck or Side Deck of just about anything looking for some attack blocking and/or disruption – especially Monarch Decks looking for more stuff to Tribute.

While he isn’t doing anything flashy or winning the Duel on his own, you’ll find that the utility and disruption provided by Ghostrick Jackfrost is unlike anything else you’re using. It’s often the simple, consistent cards that are truly the Duel winners, and Jackfrost is a great pick for any Deck!